


A Wish Is A Dream Your Heart Dreams

by afteriwake



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Torchwood
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-05
Updated: 2012-07-05
Packaged: 2017-11-09 06:31:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/452379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone’s got a wish, and he knows what to do to make some of them come true. He just needs some help setting it up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ::deep breath:: Set between “A Christmas Carol” and “The Impossible Astronaut” for Doctor Who; set after “Children of Earth” but before “Miracle Day” for Torchwood; set after an AU season 5 ending for Supernatural; set early in season 4 for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A [xoverexchange](http://xoverexchange.livejournal.com) pinch-hit. I tried to make one really long fic, but it worked better in sections. I know slash/femmeslash was preferred but I saw Dean/Tara as a ship and was intrigued. I’ve rarely written her (and it’s been a very long time) and I’ve never written Jack, so if they seem off I apologize. Also, it’s implied Dean’s traveled with the Doctor before.

“So. I’ve gathered you all here because you’re going to be my crack team at setting something right,” the Eleventh Doctor said with a clap of his hands. None of his new companions but one looked at him in confusion. Jack Harkness and Dean Winchester, they were old hats at this, but this was new to the witch. Tara Maclay came from a Hellmouth and thus knew more offensive and defensive magic than she really should at her young age, but despite magic being so prevalent in her life, the idea of time travel was beyond her. He hoped he could soften it as best he could.

He had pulled them all from different points in their personal time streams: Dean had come back from the dead and the war had been averted but with a horrible sacrifice, and Tara had only just started to really get to know the group who called themselves The Scoobies. Only Jack was from nearly the same time stream as he was, and he was there because he wanted someone familiar. Not that Dean wasn’t familiar at this point, but he also felt he owed Jack something, and he was not the type of man who liked feeling in debt to people.

After he had set Amy and Rory on a proper honeymoon off the TARDIS he had decided to pay a visit to the future, after he had reset the universe, just to take a peek at those he had left behind, or at least those he was able to. Rose and her Doctor were happy, with children and a real, happy life. Martha and Mickey were fighting the good fight with UNIT, keeping the world safe as best they could. He had hesitated to visit Donna, but in the end was glad he had. She was dying a quick death, all because of what he had done. He had looked all over the universe for a solution, a real and true cure, and had been directed by Dorium to an ancient book of magic. He knew nothing of magic that would be effective in this case, but he knew two who did.

He would have grabbed Willow Rosenburg, but he knew the fate that awaited her, and he hoped to change part of it in his own way. Farther in the future, when he’d checked on his friends, he had seen she had gone power hungry and abandoned her friends for the search for power, and her need for more power stemmed from the loss of Tara. He hoped that by bringing Tara here, on this mission, he may change a few things. It was his tendency to meddle.

Dean and Jack were battle hard veterans of battles he didn’t want to think about. They had both lost so much and gained so little for their sacrifices, and he hoped that meeting each other would be beneficial for the road ahead of them. He knew dark days were still ahead of both of them, more wars to fight, more family and friends and allies to put in harms way. But Dean’s gift with languages and incantations and all the many intricate details of monster hunting, as he had always referred to it was essential, and his practiced hand would need to lead Tara, the one in whom the power rested. Jack was there because…well, the Doctor needed to restore his faith in humanity. He hadn’t been able to stop the British government, or save his family, and that was a debt he needed to repay.

“So what are we going to do?” Dean asked, lounging on the steps, leaning back against one while resting on his elbows, his legs stretching down three more. It must not have been comfortable, but he was putting on a show, and the Doctor had to admit that Tara had seen his relaxed stance and stopped fidgeting as much.

“I have a book, a very old book, a very powerful book,” he replied. “I had to do something to a dear friend that I thought would save her life and was instead simply killing her over a longer period of time. She had absorbed my consciousness. Essentially, her brain was full of her thoughts and my thoughts.”

“Donna,” Jack said quietly.

The Doctor nodded. “I pocketed them away and thought I’d got rid of them, but they’re leaking through, and it’s eating away at her. I had hoped to find a way to do it better, but essentially it would lobotomize her, and I would never do that to her. But I found this book, and somewhere in it is a spell to seamlessly merge the two conciousnesses together so she can remember everything but it won’t kill her.” He didn’t add that when he had stopped by to see her it was her family that begged him to do something, fix her, ad try and bring back the old her if possible. They didn’t need to know that.

“Well, let’s get cracking,” Dean said, sitting up.

“It’s not that simple,” he replied. “For one, you’re just helping. Or rather, you’re going to be the muscle when it comes.”

“It?” Tara asked quietly.

“We’re going to need to summon a being from another universe,” he replied. “It’s very vague on what it looks like, so I’m going with the term it to describe…it.”

“It’s not a demon, is it?” Dean asked skeptically. Dean would do almost anything the Doctor asked, and he knew it, but he drew the line at summoning demons, which was also something the Doctor knew.

“Oh no, no. There’s no deal making to be made. It’s just that it’s…more in the vein of a genie, I suppose. It will grant a wish, and do so in a way that is beneficial. It does not cause much mischief. But it needs to be convinced, and I want you there in case things go wrong.” He paused. “You did grab some of your weapons, right?”

“Just a few,” he said, nodding to the bag he’d left over by the console. “I also grabbed rock salt and some other stuff, just in case.”

“That was one thing I’ve always liked about you, Dean. That you’re always prepared,” he replied with a grin.

“As long as you don’t call me a boy scout we’re good.”

Then the Doctor turned to Tara. “I suppose you’re wondering why you’re here, Tara.”

“You need someone to cast the spell,” she said, and he nodded. “But why not get Willow? She’s more powerful.”

“I have my reasons,” he said, not evasively, but not in a straightforward tone, either. “But you are wrong. You have access to just as much power as she does. You can _be_ just as powerful as she is now, if not more. That is also part of the reason Dean is here. He’s done different type of work with casting out demons and such, so he can help with specifics.”

“Never cast a spell before,” Dean pointed out.

The Doctor turned to him. “Summoning a genie-type creature is almost exactly the same as summoning a crossroads demon,” he pointed out. “You just use different ingredients and a different set of words.”

“He has a point,” Jack said, speaking up and pushing himself away from the console. “I have enough experience with…well, _everything_ , to know he has a point. What you do in your area of expertise will be a big help here.” Then he went over to Tara. “Why don’t you and Dean give me and the good Doctor a minute, okay? Dean knows where the kitchen is.”

It took Dean just a few seconds to get what was going on. “Right! He’s got good food, even though all his companions are British.” He got up and went over to her. “It’s not far. And I can answer some questions, if you want. I’ve traveled with him before.”

“Really?” Tara asked, surprised. Dean took a few steps away from the Doctor and Jack, and she followed.

The two older men watched until they were out of sight, and then Jack turned to him. “Okay. What _aren’t_ you telling them?”

“The one who casts the spell needs to be a girl, untouched by manly hands,” he replied. “A virgin.”

“And you just sent her off with _Dean Winchester_?” Jack asked incredulously.

“ _He_ knows she needs to stay a virgin. That’s why I got him first.”

“Then why did you get me?” he asked. “I’m just as much of a handsome lech as he is.”

“Because this thing we’re summoning, it will grant one wish for everyone involved in summoning it. I thought there might be something you want, and after I failed—“

Jack cut him off, raising his hand. “I may not have liked what I had to do, and my daughter hates me, but you didn’t _fail_ to do anything,” he said, with only a slight tinge of bitterness in his voice. “I’m a big boy. I can make my own decisions.”

“I was going to offer each of you a wish,” he replied. “It can be anything. Unlike most genies in folklore, it doesn’t have limits when in someone elses universe. If you wanted to wish for someone to return from the dead, it would happen.”

Jack shut his eyes, and the Doctor worried he had pushed too much. In such a short span he had lost two people important to him. He only wanted to help. When Jack opened his eyes again, though, he had shelved any emotions that the Doctor could read. “So what do you want me to do?”

“Make her comfortable, and chaperone them. I will tell them about the rest after she gets comfortable.”

“And what if she doesn’t?” Jack asked, causing the Doctor to frown.

“We’ll just deal with that problem if it arises,” he finally said with a sigh. “Could you go chaperone now?”

Jack shook his head, but he had a slight grin on his face. “Whatever you say, _Doc_.”


	2. Chapter 2

“You don’t have to be scared,” Dean said. He was rummaging through the cabinets, pulling down food items that he knew the Doctor had picked up because of him and the girl. These were American food items, but he was looking for one specific dish that Martha had given him the last time he was there, the chocolate spread she’d put on a cookie for him. Finally he saw it. “Yes.”

“What is that?” Tara asked, coming over.

“Nutella,” he said. “It’s chocolate and hazelnut. Let’s see…” He rummaged around for a minute, then opened another cabinet and saw the Chips Ahoy. “There was another companion, Martha Jones. She spread some of the Nutella on one of these. Best way to eat cookies. Even better than with milk.”

“Could I try it?” she asked, her interest piqued. She came over by him as he opened a drawer and pulled out a knife. She watched him open up the jar and take the foil off, then set it down to open up the cookies. She picked out a cookie and held it as he spread a thin layer of the brown spread on top. She took a bite and closed her eyes at the pleasant taste. “That is good,” she said when she was done chewing.”

“Isn’t it?” he asked with a grin. He set up a cookie for him and another one for her. “Martha does the occasional hunts whenever she’s not fighting aliens, and we keep in contact. I’ve met a lot of his companions. I met the one we’re going to try and help. Donna was…okay, I guess. She was older than Rose, the first one I met, and Mickey and Martha. But the Doctor seemed to be really fond of her.”

“Do you still talk to the other two?” she asked, finishing her first cookie.

“Mickey, yeah, since he’s married to Martha, but not Rose. Rose was fascinated by the Doctor, even when he changed, and then she just kind of went away,” he said, finishing off his cookie and making himself another one.

“He changed?” she asked, pausing before taking a bite.

“Regenerations. He changes how he looks. First time I met him, he had a buzz cut type hair style, and he wore jeans and a leather jacket. Next time I see him he’s completely different, with wild brown hair and glasses and suits. This is a new regeneration. I mean, now he looks about my age. It’s weird, but not too weird since I already went through him regenerating.”

“Oh,” she said.

“No matter what, though, he’s a good guy. The kind of guy you can trust. He may do dickish things to the people who try and harm him and his friends, but he’s still good.” For just a second he got a brief sad look on his face, but it went away quickly.

Not quickly enough for Tara not to notice, though. “did you see something happen?” she asked.

“I saw him take on a Sontaran,” he said. “The first time I met him. It’s an alien, just like him, only not. Anyway, I thought if he could do that then he could help me with my problem, but he couldn’t make it go away. He could just postpone it for a bit.”

“What was it?”

“I made a deal with a demon,” he said, staring at his other cookie. “I went to Hell.”

“I live on top of a Hellmouth,” she said. “Or at least that’s what my friends told me.”

“Huh,” Dean said. “Which one?”

“Sunnydale,” she replied.

Dean whistled. “Oh, yeah. Heard about that place.” He paused. The last he heard it had been destroyed and all the Slayers that could be Slayers were, but then he remembered she was not from the same point in the time stream he was in. The Doctor had told him repeatedly not to tell her too much about the future. “Hunters avoid it because there’s a Slayer there. She’s got it covered.”

“Yeah, Buffy is really cool,” she said with a smile. “All of them are, her and her friends.”

“It’s good to have friends that will have your back,” he said with a grin. “I have a few.”

“I didn’t really have a lot of friends growing up, so it’s nice,” she replied. “I have family, though, and that’s worth a lot, too.”

Dean’s grin faltered. “I just lost my family,” he said quietly. “If this all works out, though, things will be okay.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Dean was saved from answering by the arrival of Jack. “Oh! I see you got out the Nutella. Got two more spoons?”

“Sure,” Dean said, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He opened the drawer and got out two spoons, handing them to Jack.

“Now, see, the way I was told to eat it was with Oreos. There’s another type of cookie like them in Cardiff, but if the Doctor knew you were coming he would have stocked up on Oreos, which I like better anyway.” He grinned when Dean handed over a bag of double stuffed Oreos. “See, you just twist off the top,” he said to Tara, who was paying rapt attention. “Then you scrape out the filling and put Nutella in the middle.” He did as he was describing, then popped the entire cookie in his mouth. After chewing and swallowing, he grinned. 

“Remind me _never_ to allow you to raid the kitchen again,” the Doctor said from behind them, a smile on his face. “Your food combinations are too strange.”

“Fish fingers and custard,” Jack pointed out.

“Touché,” the Doctor admitted. “Right then. When you’re finished, join me in the library. Dean and Jack both know the way, Tara, so no worries about getting lost.”

“Got it,” Dean said with a nod, putting the lid back on the Nutella but popping one last covered cookie into his mouth. “You still hungry?” he asked Tara.

“A little,” she said. “I hadn’t eaten lunch.”

“Then let’s raid the fridge,” Dean said with a grin. Jack laughed, and the Doctor rolled his eyes, but with a smile on his face. He looked at Jack for a moment, who nodded, and then he left. It could do to wait for a little while longer. He left the three of them in the kitchen and went back to the console room. He had made so many mistakes, hurt so many people, that he should really use the wish to make all of their lives better.

But in his prior regeneration, hadn’t he checked on all of them? Made sure they were happy and healthy? All except Donna. All he had done for Donna was leave the lottery ticket. But there hadn’t been anything more he could _do_ , and now he knew he’d made such a mess of things before. No, this wish would be used on Donna. The others would just have to fend for themselves, and live the life they had chosen after his interference in their lives.

Still…it made him think of his most recent companions. Amelia Pond and Rory Williams, the Girl Who Waited and the Lone Centurion. He smiled at that. Sometimes, his being there could make things better. In the time before the Pandorica he had never once heard Amy tell Rory she loved him; after the wedding, he heard it so often, in so many different ways, that it had begun to be a mood lifter for him, even though it wasn’t directed at him.

He and Rory had talked, just before he left for a proper honeymoon with his wife, on how much of an influence he had had on Amelia as a girl. Rory had grown up with her, seen her before and after he crash landed on her shed. He had a unique insight on this “mad man with a box” that Amy had grown up idolizing, having met him and spent time with him. He had said that while Amelia had had her problems, the fact that he had brought back her parents by flying the Pandorica into the exploding TARDIS had changed her, in many ways for the better. So that, at least, was one person he had been able to fix, and for that he was proud. And Rory didn’t seem to be all that worse off, either, for that matter.

So yes, this wish would be used to fix his biggest mistake, his way of fixing the problem in Donna Noble’s head. He just hoped she would be forgiving of him afterwards.


	3. Chapter 3

Dean had met a couple of Slayers in his time. Dealt with their kind of vampires, which he preferred if he had to fight a vamp. Gotten their help with some of the tougher monsters and stuff he faced. In fact, Faith Lehane was a drinking buddy and sometimes bed mate of his whenever they happened to cross paths, though the last time she had said she was seeing somebody, so they’d just celebrated their victory with good beer and good food. But never once had he heard them speak of a woman named Tara Maclay, and the more time he spent with her the more he wondered why not.

Pouring through old books and manuscripts in an effort to figure out everything the book the Doctor had scored needed for the spell to work, he got to know her. And he liked her. He liked her even when she hesitantly admitted she was supposed to turn into a demon soon. He sincerely doubted it, but who knew? She was a good person, and he found it easy to talk to her about things. He opened up about Sam and Adam and the war between Lucifer and Michael, and what his role in it was supposed to have been. He knew if the Doctor hadn’t picked him up when he had he’d probably have gone back to Lisa and tried to make a life with her , and he told her that, too.

He told her about his mother, and about his childhood, and how Sam got dragged back into the whole mess, and about his father. He told her how he’d died a few times, and told her about being in Hell, all the while trying not to tell her too much about her own future. But it felt so good to have someone that would just listen, and not act the way his father did or Sam did. She was more like Bobby, except she didn’t have the attitude he had, just the compassion. It was kind of refreshing.

The one thing he did hide was how many women he had been with, both before and after being sent to Hell. The Doctor had made very clear that she was a virgin, and unless she was reading smutty Harlequin novels in her spare time she probably didn’t have all that much knowledge about sex. And he actually found that appealing. He wasn’t the type of guy who wanted to take someone’s virginity just to do it, but he liked knowing there was someone in his weird, weird world that could hold onto something like that.

He knew The Doctor didn’t like it when they went off on tangents, so they made it a point to keep working while talking. But it had been a week now, and even with Jack’s help they were just halfway done with figuring out the spell, and he declared it was time to take a break. “Bet you don’t do that much reading in one day, huh?” he asked with a grin as they made their way to the kitchen.

“I used to read all the time my senior year of high school. It wasn’t this kind of reading, though,” she said with a smile. “Mostly it was classic literature.”

“I read just enough of that stuff in high school to graduate,” he said with a shrug. “Most people don’t think I got it. I had this ‘dumb jock’ kind of personality, I guess. But I will admit I liked Dickens. I had to read Great Expectations in one class my senior year. Got to the class right when they started, left after we took our last test. I also kind of dig Shakespeare. Not so much that I’ll read him for fun, but I did like what I’d read.”

“Which plays?” she asked.

“No plays. But I had a teacher who loved his sonnets, so I read about fifteen of those. He had some style with words, I’ll give him that.”

“I love Much Ado About Nothing and Two Gentlemen of Verona,” she said. I don’t really like his histories or tragedies. I like the comedies and romances more.”

“Yeah, I avoid tragedy in reading because I see so much of it in real life,” he said with a slight shrug. “Sometimes I wish I had a normal childhood, you know? A mom and a dad and no hunting. But then I think about it, and I wouldn’t really be me, I think.” He gave her a grin. “I’m probably talking crap, aren’t I?”

“No, I understand,” she said. “I mean, without the experiences you had growing up you wouldn’t be this great man you are now. You wouldn’t risk your life to save others. You told me about the experience with the Djinn, where you had the perfect life. You’re the type of guy who wants to be the knight in shining armor.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said, and he wanted to kick himself when he felt his cheeks warm.

“I would,” she said. “You’re the type of guy who wants to save people.” She went in to kiss his cheek, or at least that’s what he assumed, because when he turned his head she kissed his lips instead and kind of froze. He resisted every temptation he had to continue the kiss, but was surprised when she relaxed and pressed her lips a little more firmly against his before pulling away. “I’m…I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“It’s okay,” he said, and it was. He hadn’t expected it, but he’d liked it. However limited her experience was, she was a pretty decent kisser. “Want to go get some food still?”

“Yes,” she said with a fervent nod. She took three steps ahead quickly and stayed in front of him the entire time. She was busy beginning to make herself something to eat when he got into the kitchen. “I’m such an idiot,” she was muttering to herself.

“You’re not,” he said from the doorway, causing her to jump. “It was an accident. A nice accident, but an accident.”

She turned to look at him. “So you’re not…upset?”

“No, I’m not upset.” He grinned at her, and after a moment she grinned back. “But we probably shouldn’t do that anymore.”

“I know. I read the spell, remember? A virgin has to do it,” she said with a slightly wider smile. Then it faltered slightly. “After the spell, though…maybe we could?”

He didn’t want to think about the fact that there was eleven years separating them in their respective timelines, of how much of a mess it could cause if he went to her time or she went to his, of how very much a bad idea the Doctor would think it was. “Yeah, we can,” he said with a grin, hopefully masking the thoughts in his head. It seemed to work, because then she beamed. “Hey, could you make me a sandwich? Need to go do something else real fast.”

“Sure,’ she said, going to the fridge and pulling things out.

He watched her for a moment, then walked back into the hallway and went looking for the Doctor. He found him in the console room, staring at a screen, deep in thought. “Other than her being a virgin, why did you pick her from the point in time where you got her?” he asked.

The Doctor, for his credit, didn’t startle. He turned to face Dean, who walked down the stairs and leaned against the railing. “She’s murdered, three years later. It sets her then-girlfriend off into a rampage, and almost brings about the end of the world. The girlfriend gets better, for a while, but in the end it rivals the fight you and your brother just got done going through, the fight between her and the Slayers. She nearly wipes them out, and her best friends have to kill her,” he said quietly.

Dean let the girlfriend part slip through without comment, but he can feel his jaw hang at the end. “Willow,” he said quietly. “Faith mentioned her. Said with all the magic juice she’s running it gives her the creeps to be around her.”

“Your friend Faith…she’s one of the last to die,” he replied, moving to stand in front of Dean. “She watches those she knows get massacred, Dean. And then she’s beheaded and her dead body used to taunt Buffy Summers, who she’d grown to hate by then, and her friend Alexander Harris, who she nearly blinded completely.”

“So you’re hoping if you take her away now it won’t get to that point,” Dean said slowly.

“Willow wouldn’t do that!” Tara’s fierce voice said from behind Dean. He turned quickly, then looked at the Doctor, who sighed. “She wouldn’t…would she?”

“I had hoped for you not to know,” he said quietly. “Too much knowledge of your future could be a bad thing. But…” He paused, then went to one of the books that had been near his chair by the console. “This is Rupert Giles’ diary, from when he was Buffy’s Watcher until his death fifteen years later.” He handed her the book. “It’s all detailed here.”

“Were you going to tell me? Ever?” she asked the Doctor, taking the book.

“No, I had hoped not to,” he said, looking ashamed.

“What about you?” she asked Dean, hugging the book to her chest.

“Maybe,” he said. “But if he told me not to…no.”

She looked from one man to the other, and then, without a word, went back up the stairs. Dean took a step to follow her, but the Doctor put a hand on his shoulder. “You really fucked up, you know that?” Dean said, shrugging his hand off his shoulder and walking up the other set of stairs towards his room.

The Doctor sighed, then went back to his console. For better or for worse, she knew now, and the whole thing was in jeopardy. Just his luck, he mused to himself. But there was nothing he could do except wait for her to read the truth for herself. He had been reading the book, hoping the words would change, but they had remained the same. Maybe he couldn’t change this, even if it wasn’t a fixed point in time. But at least he had tried, and that had to count for something…didn’t it?


	4. Chapter 4

She read the book from cover to cover, taking her time. But by the time she was done, she felt heartbroken. She would admit she had felt the inkling of romantic feelings towards Willow, but had brushed it off as a silly crush that would fade, that would never be reciprocated. To know that it was, but that it would ruin Willow’s life and nearly bring about the end of the world not once but twice at her hands…she wished she hadn’t known.

She put the book next to her on her bed and leaned her back against the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest. This was too much knowledge. How could she go back to that life now? How could she allow Willow to do that? And that wasn’t even considering the fact that in three years she would be dead, killed by a stray bullet fired by a man she didn’t even know now, a bullet meant for Buffy. No, she couldn’t let it happen. There had to be something she could do…

The wish. She had been unsure what to wish for before, but now she knew. She would wish for this to not happen, for her not to have gone to Sunnydale and never met them. Maybe it would still happen, just not the way it had before, but this time it wouldn’t be her fault. It would not be due to her influence in Willow’s life.

But what would she do instead? She had found herself hoping to spend time with Dean, because she liked him. It had only been a week, but there was a bond forming, something she thought could strengthen in time. And there was the whole business of her turning into a demon. Would he even want her if she was? He _was_ a hunter, after all.

She got up off the bed, grabbed the book and went through the myriad hallways and looked in many rooms until she found the Doctor at desk in a comfortable room she supposed was his study. She knocked on the door, and he looked up, weary and worn out. “Can I ask you some questions?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, of course,” he said, ignoring the papers on his desk and turning towards her. He gestured to another seat in the room and she came in and sat down. “What is it you want to know?”

“It says in the book that I’m with Willow when I’m murdered. Does that mean I became a demon and she accepted me?” she asked, setting the book on her lap.

“You were never a demon,” he said. “Your family used that as a lie to keep you in line. You are 100% human,” he said with a small smile. “The vampire named William the Bloody proves it when he can’t bite you.”

She felt relief flow through her, and in turn smiled a bit, but then sobered. “If I were to disappear, would that change things?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Your death is not a fixed point in time, but nothing seems to have changed in the week you’ve been here. If you leave permanently, then maybe. But I can’t guarantee it.”

“But if anything like this happens it wouldn’t be because of me,” she said.

“No, it would be for other reasons.” He looked at her, slightly puzzled. “What were you thinking?”

“What if I were to go forward in time? Maybe to Dean’s point in the timeline?” she asked slowly.

“It could work,” he said thoughtfully. “None of the things that happen in Sunnydale are fixed points in time, so theoretically if you were to leave and there were to be no trace of you things could play out differently.”

“Then that’s what I’ll do,” she said, standing up and handing him the book.

He took it, looking at her. “Are you sure?”

“There’s a lot of things I want to do,” she said, “and according to this book I die in three years my time. I don’t have a chance to do any of it. If my disappearing can save lives and give me a chance to live mine, then that’s what I want to do.” She went back to the door. “I’ll be in the library if you need me.”

He watched her leave, a smile forming on his face. Perhaps things weren’t so dire after all…

\--

He had seen them every time he opened the fridge, but he had not expected to see Jack had gotten to the beers first. But when he walked into the kitchen he saw Jack leaning against the counter, the six pack of Heineken to his side with one bottle missing. “Gonna drink them all?” he asked.

Jack motioned to the six pack. “Help yourself.” Dean came in, grabbed a bottle and opened it. “Heard she found out her destiny.”

“Yeah. Because of her, someone almost takes the world out twice, _and_ she dies in three years.” He took a long swig from the bottle. “It makes her life suck almost as much as mine.”

“But she probably has more good times than you,” he pointed out.. “Her life doesn’t revolve around her life’s work like yours does.”

“Not anymore,” he said. “I’m done. I lost all my family to demons and angels and the war between Heaven and Hell. I’m done with all that crap.”

“I lost my lover and my grandson in the last fight I was in,” Jack said. “Did you hear about Britain trying to give children to aliens?”

“There was some hunters talking about it, but they wrote it off as bullshit. It was true?”

Jack nodded slowly. “Ianto was killed by them, along with me. I got better. And then we had to sacrifice my grandson to stop them.” He paused. “I was dead drunk for a month afterwards. I got better, but I still feel guilty.”

“You’re going to use your wish to bring them back, aren’t you?” Dean asked, the bottle halfway to his lips.

“I don’t know. I had a colleague, Owen, who came back from the dead. It wasn’t pretty. If there’s a way I can do it and not have them end up like Owen…yeah.”

“And what if you only get to bring back one of them?” he asked.

“I’ll bring back my grandson Steven,” he said without thinking.

“I’ll bring back Sam,” he said. “It’s kind of what I do,” he added with a bitter laugh.

They both drank their beers quietly, and when Dean was finished he looked at the remaining four. “I think I’m going to see if I can make some more headway on that spell.”

“It’s good that she knows,” Jack said. “I know he doesn’t think so, but…she needed to know.”

Dean sighed. “Yeah, I know. I just think the fact I wouldn’t have told her if he told me not to doesn’t look good.”

“You know the effects of time travel, and what’s good to know and what isn’t. If he had told you that you were going to Hell would you have still made the deal to save your brother?”

“Absolutely,” he said without a pause.

“That’s the type of guy you are. And I think that’s the type of girl she is. She’ll deal with it well enough.’ He pulled out another beer “I’ll save yours for you to drink later.”

“If you need ‘em, drink ‘em,” he said. “I know he’s got whiskey in the last cabinet over the sink.”

“Huh,” he said, opening the second beer. “I’ll have to remember that.”

Dean grinned just a bit and headed back to the library. He got there at the same time as Tara, and bumped into her. “Sorry,” he said, stepping back and running a hand through his hair. “Look…I’m sorry. I probably would have told you eventually.”

“It’s okay,” she said with a small smile on her face. “I made a decision.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Yeah. I think I know how we can stop it from happening. But we need to get the wishes. Want to get back to work?”

“Sure,” he said with a nod, and the two of them walked into the library and did just that.


	5. Chapter 5

It took another week, but with everyone’s help they were able to do the spell. The spell itself was simple; it was getting the various ingredients that was hard. But when you had a time machine that could travel in space, it made it just a bit easier. The spell was cast in the library with all of them standing there, Tara being front and center. It suddenly seemed as though there was a storm of stars in the middle of the library, and it coalesced in the form of a curvy woman in leather breeches, a leather vest and a form fitting white shirt standing on the table. “Four of you this time, eh?” she said with a genuine smile. “Most who’ve ever helped summon me. Usually it’s only one or two.”

“What should we call you?” the Doctor asked.

“I have many names, just like you, Doctor,” she said with a smile. “Yes, we knew who you were, and I knew one day you’d come seeking my help. But that’s beside the point. You can call me…” She paused. “Melina. The Greeks certainly seemed to enjoy that name, and I think it’s the only one any of you except the Doctor can pronounce.” She knelt down, then sat herself on the edge of the table. “Now then, wishes. I’m assuming this young lady is the virgin who cast the spell, correct?”

“Yes,” Tara said, blushing.

“Most of the virgins who cast the spell are much younger. _Much_ younger,” she said with a slight chuckle. “What is your wish?”

“I want the knowledge of my existence to be erased from everyone who has met me, except those in this room. Family, friends…everyone.”

“That seems to be a fairly incomplete wish. Do you want no identity in its place?” Melina asked.

“I hadn’t thought about that,” she said.

“See, I, unlike those horrible Djinn, actually want to make a wish work to _the wisher’s_ benefit, not my benefit,” she said. “I know why you’re making this wish. You don’t want death and destruction in your wake. But in order to live, you need to be somebody. Who do you want to be?”

She turned to Dean. “What was your mother’s name?”

“Mary,” he said.

She turned back to Melina. “I want to be Mary Benson, and I want to be a teacher.”

“A noble career choice!” Melina said with a clap. “I can do that.” Then she turned to Dean. “Dean Winchester. The man who was supposed to be Michael’s vessel. I have an idea what your wish is. I can bring your brothers back, but not without cost to them.”

“What cost?” he asked.

“The same cost you had when Castiel raised you up out of Hell. They’ll remember it all. But I can lessen its effects on them, make it so they can live relatively normal lives.”

“Then please do it,” he said.

She nodded. “Done.” Then she turned to Jack. “I can bring those you have lost back as well, but I must warn you that Ianto may not want to come back. He has a higher purpose in Heaven than he ever did on Earth.”

Jack smiled slightly. “He would,” he said quietly. “Don’t tear him away from it. Just bring back Steven. But make sure he’s not like Owen.”

“He’ll come back a happy, healthy boy with no memories of the event, and I can make it so everyone thinks he was in a coma and miraculously woke up.”

“Except Gwen and Rhys. Someone other than me needs to know,” Jack said.

“So be it,” she said with an inclination of her head. Then she looked at the Doctor. “You want to heal your friend, Donna Noble.”

“Yes.”

“I can’t do that, at least not the way you think I can.” She paused. “Tampering with someone’s mind is hard enough, but suppressing another consciousness within them…even that taxes my ability. So I will remove it completely, without harm to her. She may go back to how she was before she got it, she may not, but she will not die a slow death now.” She paused. “I am not in the habit of granting wishes for the room where the spell is cast, but…your TARDIS has a wish.”

“It can wish?” he replied, surprised.

“It is a living soul, even in all this steel and machinery,” she said with a fond smile, getting off the table and patting a wall fondly. “There is another companion of yours, Amelia Pond?”

“What about her?” he asked, concerned.

“She is going to have a baby. A special baby. A baby that will be taken from her at birth. Her fondest wish cries out to me even though it hasn’t happened yet, it’s _that_ strong. And the TARDIS knows it because it knows all things that happen or ever can happen. It won’t happen, but that means you will lose something dear to you. I cannot tell you what. Are you willing to lose something to give her something she would normally have lost?”

“Yes,” he blurted out. “If I don’t already have it then it must not be important. I will gladly give it up so she may keep her child.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” she said. “I may even arrange for you to find something similar I the future, as a sort of consolation prize.” She smiled at them. “I must say, you are the most selfless set of wishers I’ve dealt with in my millennia of existence. While your wishes all benefit you in a small way, they benefit someone else more. I almost want to reward you, but I think that might be too much.”

“It probably is,” Dean said with a grin. “So we won’t be greedy.”

“Good boy,” she said, coming over to him and patting his cheek fondly. “I will whisper something to each of you. All you need to do is repeat it to yourself, and your wish will come true.” She walked up to Tara, then Dean, then Jack and finally the Doctor. She stood in front of him for a moment, and grasped both his hands in hers. “You have restored my faith in humanity, Doctor, and that is a gift more precious than gold and jewels. If you need me again, I will come. But only for you and those you deem worthy.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

“But keep in mind you don’t get another wish,” she added. “This is it.”

“I understand.” She smiled, and leaned in and whispered something to him. He closed his eyes and repeated it, and then he felt Melina’s hands dissolve into air in his own. He opened them up, and looked at everyone. “I suppose we should go to the controls and check, yes?”

“Sounds good,” Jack said, and they filed out of the library to the console room.

The first thing the Doctor did was pick up the book that had been where Giles’ Watcher’s diary had been, but in its place was a much thicker book. “Tara? Or rather, Mary. If you would do the honors?”

She took the book, and began to flip through it, skimming a page, then skipping forward. “She didn’t go evil,” she said after ten minutes with a sigh of relief.

“Excellent!” the Doctor replied. He looked at Dean, who was hanging up his phone. “Well?”

“Sam and Adam woke up in the cemetery where the fight was and wondered how the hell they came back,” he said with a grin on his face. "They remember what happened, but it seems as though it’s really vague memories.”

“Good,” he replied. “Jack?”

He shook his head. “Just drop me off at their home. I’ll check then.”

“All right.” He looked at them. “I suppose it’s time to part company, then. Dean, I’ll take you back where I left you. And Mary? Where and when would you like to go?”

“Just drop me off with Dean,” she said, turning to look at him. “He told me he’ll help me adjust to the new year.”

“It’s the least I can do,” he said with a grin.

“That makes it easy,” the Doctor replied with a chuckle. “Now then, back to where I got you.” He fiddled with the controls, and there was a shudder and then it stopped. The Doctor went to the doors and opened them, and saw Dean’s Impala outside. “There you go. One Impala, waiting ready to take you to your next destination.”

“Thanks,” Dean said. He offered his hand to Tara, who took it, and they walked out of the TARDIS. Before he shut the doors the Doctor saw Tara throw her arms around Dean’s neck and kiss him soundly, and he smiled to himself. Maybe Melina did give them something extra after all.

Next he dropped off Jack, and was greeted with the sight of the young boy running out of the house and into Jack’s arms. He closed the door to give them some privacy, and then set it towards his final destination of the evening. The TARDIS shuddered for a moment and then stopped, and he stepped outside. He was in front of a lavish townhome, and running down the steps was Donna.

“You there!” she called, and for a moment he was afraid she still didn’t remember him. But then she got up to him and gave him a big hug. “We save the world, and then you take off?” she asked when she pulled away. “What kind of friend are you, Doctor? Love the new look, but I could do without the bow tie.”

He laughed, long and hearty, and pulled her back into a hug. “Oh, Donna, I missed you,” he said.

“Well of course you did!” she said, hugging him back. “Tell me, are you here to take me on another adventure, or just here to visit?”

“We can visit for now, and adventure more later,” he said. “I have many things to tell you.”

“Then come in,” she said warmly. “I get the feeling we have a lot to talk about.”

“More than you know,” he said as he followed her into her home, pleased that all the wishes turned out exactly as they should have.


End file.
